Future in-flight passenger entertainment systems (IFE) may comprise a stand-alone fully autonomous carry-on, battery-powered portable server device, with wireless audio/video signal broadcast to passenger owned portable devices (e.g., tablets, smartphones, laptops) via WiFi. Such a portable server today has no interface with the aircraft (for example, see the devices described at http://www.blueboxavionics.com/products/bluebox-wow/).
The disadvantage is that such a system, having no interface with the aircraft, cannot send or receive data to/from the aircraft systems (e.g., to mute/pause audio/video during a PA announcement, receive flight data used for flight information to passengers (“Airshow”), aircraft camera or audio feeds (“Landscape/Taxi Cam”), send data to control reading lights, etc.